God's Word | Revelations From The Road

Be Aware!

July 25, 2020 by Bill Leave a Comment

“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

I have quoted this verse quite a few times when I feel like I’m being tempted in some way. I know that the devil is always out there trying to draw me, and all of us, off the narrow path (Matthew 7:14). He’s always, “seeking who he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8), so we have to be aware of his tactics.

As I was declaring this verse one morning recently, God gave me an encouraging revelation; God, the Holy Spirit is inside me and the devil is outside me or “in the world”. Now, we read in the Bible that sometimes, demons are inside people. Jesus cast out demons seven times from various people, but we don’t hear much about that today. So, I was encouraged with the reminder that all-powerful God is in me and my demonic enemies are outside, around me in the world. My enemies out there can only tempt me and try to coerce me into doing, saying, or thinking something sinful but it is my choice to listen or resist it. (James 4:7).

However, we know that, since the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden, sin came into the world and into us. The Bible speaks of it as, “the flesh”. “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” (Romans 7:18). We have a sin nature that is in our “flesh”, but we also have the Spirit nature in us that battles against it. It is an on-going battle. Sometimes our flesh wins and sometimes our Spirit does. Being a former coach, I see this likened to our muscles. The ones we exercise and feed properly are the ones that develop and become strong. Those that are not exercised or fed deteriorate. We have to feed and exercise our Spirit by reading our Bible, praying and doing good and starve our flesh. So, when the devil comes around with his temptations that are designed for us, we can declare, “Greater is He that is in me than you are. I have submitted to God and resist you, get out of here!” Be aware!

But there’s something else to be aware of. We may have more than one thing that the devil knows he can temp us with: our weaknesses. He knows what they are and that’s what he uses against us. But have you noticed that when you have gotten a weakness under control that the devil will attack you with something else? He’ll keep trying because his desire is only to, “steal, kill and destroy” (John 10:10). So, when these temptations come, we need to have our Spiritual armor on and our Sword ready so we can say, “IT IS WRITTEN!”. Remember, in Luke 4: 1-13, how Jesus was tempted three times in the wilderness? (Notice that Luke said Jesus was “full of the Holy Spirit” (v. 1), He had exercised His Spirit to the full.) The devil tried one thing, that didn’t work. He tried two more things that didn’t work either because Jesus was ready with the Word. Finally, the devil gave up, “until an opportune time”, (v.13). That’s what the devil does to us. He tempts us with one thing and, if that doesn’t get us, he tries the next thing. But if we keep exercising our Spirit faith and declaring the Word, the devil will leave us for a time when, maybe, we’re weak.

So, remember that the devil is out there on the road of life and be aware of his tactics. Remember that God is in you, submit to Him, have your Word-of-God sword ready and resist the devil. Be aware. Be ready.

Back To Normal

May 16, 2020 by Bill Leave a Comment

“But the Lord says, “Do not cling to events of the past or dwell on what happened long ago. I am going to do something new. It is already happening. Don’t you recognize it? I will clear a way in the desert. I will make rivers on dry land.” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

Wow! What a day. We’re beginning to get back to normal. We’ve been waiting on this for some time and here we are, getting back to normal. But wait…do we really want to get back to the way we were before this pandemic, back to normal? Should we be satisfied with…good enough, it’s OK, it’s comfortable, it’s easy…normal? And, what should be “normal” for a Christian? Let’s consider it.

“The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.” (Luke 6:40). So, are we in training to be like our Teacher or are we satisfied to stay in Kindergarten? What WAS our “normal”? And, if we’re striving to be like our Teacher, Jesus, what would be normal for us? Let’s think, what was normal for Jesus? He was sinless, holy, regularly prayed to the Father, did what the Father said, knew the Word, commanded demons and they obeyed, spoke healing and life to those who needed it, controlled the weather and nature with His Word, ate with sinners, served others, taught about God’s kingdom and displayed love wherever He went. So, if that was normal for Jesus and we’re supposed to be striving to be like Him, shouldn’t that be the normal we should be working toward? “God looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.” (Psalm 53:2). Now, we know that all have sinned, (Romans 3:23), and we are not going to be just like Jesus but are we going to just give up and quit and keep on being “normal”? God’s looking for His people to rise up and not be ordinary or normal but be extraordinary. Can we do it? We desperately need to; God needs us to. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

But it appears that there are not very many willing to sign up for the Advanced Class, be willing to work hard to be on the First Team or to follow the Master into the dark valley or up the steep mountain. “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.” (Ezekiel 22:30). Today is the day. Let’s not be satisfied with “normal”. Let’s stand up and be counted. Do you hear the Voice? “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8). #NoMoreNormal

Lessons from Prayer – The Plan

February 5, 2020 by Bill Leave a Comment

We’ve all heard that prayer is like having a conversation with God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit. We can just talk to Him like we would someone right there with us, and He is. Well recently as I’ve been talking to God, He has been having some teaching conversations with me that I want to share. The way it goes is that I’ll ask a question or make a comment then He, by His Spirit, replies. And sometimes, it’s not what I’m expecting.

And another thing, these conversations almost always happen when I’m alone with God. “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.” (Matthew 6:6). Usually this is when I’m in the bathroom or in my vehicle, (closed doors). So I’ve decided to begin sharing these conversations in a series called “Lessons from Prayer” with the hashtag, #lessonsfromprayer. I pray that you will be encouraged by the teaching as well.

‘“Okay God, what do You have planned for me today?” “Do You have a plan or is this just a regular day?”

“Hey, I had a plan for you before you were born, you’ve read that, right?”

“Yes Lord, I’ve read that (Jeremiah 29:11), but do You have something for me to do every day?”

“Well, what about loving others, shining your light, giving thanks, offering your body a living sacrifice, serving others…need I go on?”

“Alright, I get the message Lord.” “I’ll look for opportunities to do those things today.” “Are You gonna help me?”

“You know it, I’m with you always.” (Deuteronomy 13:6). “Let’s Go.”

“I love You. Lord!” (Fist bump time) #lessonsfromprayer

The View

August 25, 2019 by Bill Leave a Comment

“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)

This post is for someone who isn’t perfect; for someone who has done some stupid things in their lives that the devil keeps bringing up. Maybe all of us. The devil wants to distract us from our mission by reminding us how bad we are based on the sins we’ve committed in the past.

God showed me something recently that I want to share. Picture this: You’re standing, looking in your mirror, not happy with what you see. Maybe because of your looks or because of your past. You might even have said, “I don’t like you!” Then, appearing beside you is Jesus! You’re astounded! Then He says, “Child, you’re not seeing yourself correctly, let Me show you how the Father and I see you.” Suddenly, your mirror becomes a video screen and Jesus plays a video of you as God sees you and the plans He has for you. “Wow, what a difference, Lord!” “Now, that’s how We see you and you need to start seeing yourself that way and stop paying attention to the devil.” “When you ask for forgiveness, you’re clean.” “We’ve got some great things for you to do, so, let’s go.” Wouldn’t it be great if we could see what God has planned for us? But for now, we have to trust Him and go by faith.

“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:12)

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10).

“For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11).

So, each day, as you pray, say: “Today, may I be, true to the view that You have of me.”

Battle Plan!

April 26, 2019 by Bill 2 Comments

As we sang the praise song, “Surrounded”, in church recently this lyric gave me another Spiritual reminder of how we’re supposed to do things: “This is how I fight my battles.” When hearing this, I was reminded of something God showed me years ago relating to fighting our battles. I called it my Scripture Steps. As I got up in the morning and walked around my bed, I would make a declaration with several scriptures as I took my first steps:

“Greater is he that is in me, than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)
“I submit to God and resist the devil” (James 4:7)
“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13)
“The joy of the Lord is my strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)
“I am more than a conqueror” (Romans 8:37)
“I put on the whole armor of God,” (Ephesians 6:11)
“No weapon formed against me will prosper.” (Isaiah 54:17)
“I have the power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means harm me.” (Luke 10:19)
“God, thank You that You never leave me, and You are with me always” (Hebrews 13:5, Matthew 28:20)

By the time I got to the next room, my faith was strengthened, I had on the full armor of God and I was ready to face the day! The Word of God is how we fight our battles! It’s the same way Jesus fought in the wilderness when He told the devil three times, “It is written!” (Matthew 4).

What’s your battle plan? Do you have one? We ALL face temptations from the enemy every day and if we don’t have a battle plan, he’ll lead us astray and drag us down. The verses above work well for me, (when I use them…yes, sometimes I mess up. Can anyone identify?) So, my suggestion is to look up several verses that pertain to your problems or temptations, memorize them and declare them with authority to the devil when he comes around. That is our Battle Plan!